Microsoft, Citigroup back finance app Bundle
Like pretty visualizations? This new start-up pulls spending data into Flash animations so that you can see who's spending what where.
This is interesting: Bundle.com is a new start-up centered on a database of personal finance and spending data so that you can punch in a couple of criteria, find out how much people like you who live in your area are likely to be spending and then share your discoveries in pretty Flash graphics through your contacts on Facebook and Twitter. It's backed by investment money from Microsoft, Citigroup, and Morningstar.
All the data on Bundle currently comes from Citigroup--the former employer of founder and CEO Jaidev Shergill--but the Bundle team tells me that data from other banks may be eventually incorporated as well. There's also editorial sourced from MSN Money and Morningstar, as well as a quiz where you can find out your spending type, from "Globe Trekker" to "Surplus Spender" to "High Roller."
Right now, at least, Bundle doesn't crunch any of your financial account information (in the manner of start-ups like Mint.com, which recently sold to Intuit). It's purely a database, and currently the ways to tap into it are limited, so as a result it runs the risk of seeming more like a cool feature than a viable start-up.
But there's more on the way, Shergill told me. Among that is localized commentary from members, as well as a way to see which establishments in a given area are getting the most financial attention. That way, for example, I could find out which restaurants in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York are most heavily frequented by people like me--or, uh, by single men within the age demographic I'd consider dating.
The company is also developing an iPhone game called "ViceTracker," which sounds intriguing. Expect a "version 2.0" of Bundle this summer, the team says.